In southwest Florida, sales and prices grow

Monday

Apr 8, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The area of the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors sees moderate appreciation

By JOHN HIELSCHER,

On October 2007, just as the Great Recession was raining down on Southwest Florida, the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors reported an inventory of homes for sale that would take more than 47 months to deplete.

But now, that stock of homes is down to just seven months, only a month more than what is typically considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

"The buyers are there," said Sharon Neuhofer, the 2013 president of the association, known as PGPCNP. "They've realized the market is at a changing point right now."

Realtors with the association sold 3,377 single-family homes in 2012, compared with 3,309 in 2011.

At the same time, the median sales price in December 2012 jumped to $118,500, from $95,000 one year earlier.

Higher demand and shrinking inventory are pushing sales prices higher, but sellers also have come to terms with the reality of the market, she said.

"Sellers are realistic in their pricing," said Neuhofer, who is with Coldwell Banker Morris Realty in Punta Gorda.

"They understand the market, and understand that if they want it to sell, they have to price it to what the market demands are now."

Short sales -- in which lenders agree to sell distressed homes for less than what is owed on their mortgages -- are helping the increase, she said.

Banks, too, have become more willing to follow through with short sales -- some because they are working under terms of settlement agreements with state and federal regulators over past foreclosure abuses.

"The banks are cooperating more, they really are," Neuhofer said. "But there are still moments when I want to bang my head on the wall -- and I have a big hole in the wall from it."

Bill Perrault, who is also an agent with Coldwell Banker in Punta Gorda, said foreclosed properties are not as "relevant" a part of the market as before. That is helping prices to increase with fewer bank-owned properties selling at discount.

"We're on the cusp of a pretty balanced market," Perrault said. "It's leaning toward a sellers' market, but not a crazy sellers market."

He is not concerned that prices will begin to spike and create another bubble like the one that rocked Southwest Florida housing six years ago.

"Consumers are more in tune with what happened last time," he said. "And even though interest rates are at record lows, the lenders are still making sure you are in good shape to get a loan.

"We're happy to see some appreciation, gradual and moderate, not out of control. That is the way it is supposed to work," he said.

The Charlotte County home market differs from that of Sarasota, where homes are priced higher -- including more luxury sales over $1 million -- and where investor groups are buying large quantities of homes for rental properties.

Neuhofer said waterfront homes at the lower end in Charlotte can be found in the $300,000s.

Just four luxury properties were sold in Charlotte in January and February, according to a recent report from real estate research firm Trendgraphix.

"The inventory of available luxury properties in Charlotte County continues to trend at its lowest level since July 2005, during the boom in luxury sales, and is 54.4 percent below March 2006, the month inventory peaked during the subsequent downturn," Trendgraphix noted.

Like Sarasota, cash buyers have become prevalent in the Charlotte market. In February, 181 of the 263 closed single-family sales, or 69 percent, were paid for with cash. In Sarasota, the figure is roughly two thirds of all purchases.

But unlike Sarasota, where large private-equity groups have been driving cash sales, Neuhofer said smaller investors are picking up homes there and converting them into rentals.

In February, Charlotte agents sold 263 single-family homes, 16 more than in January and three more than the year before.

The median sales price was $116,000, up $1,000 for the month and $22,100 for the year.

They also sold 75 condos in February, up from 52 the prior month and 67 the year before. The median was $117,500, up from $105,000 in January but down from $120,000 in 2012.

As a result of the uptick, the 950-member association is adding new agents, with more than 20 attending an orientation class this week, Neuhofer said.

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